Happy Birthday
by TheLastValkyrie
Summary: Skerren is celebrating his birthday against his will when an old photo is found. Post-End of Infinity. Basically a drabble involving a fan character. I don't own anything except my own character. yeah. UPDATED 9/22/16
1. Chapter 1

"Happy birthday, Skerren!"

Skerren smiled slightly, as he looked around the room. Somehow everyone at the School of Thought had figured out that it was his birthday. He didn't know who had let it slip, but he suspected it was probably Jack who told everyone. Jack probably had the idea for a surprise party to, which really wasn't his brightest idea since the minute Skerren had walked into the room, everyone screamed happy birthday and turned on the lights. More than a few balloons had met their end when Skerren, thinking he was being attacked, instinctively killed the closest thing possible, three large balloons floating nearby and Lorem's newest jacket that had been hanging on a chair nearby.

Skerren shuddered slightly as he remembered Lorem's glare upon seeing her now shredded jacket. There would be hell to pay for that, but Lorem promised she would wait until the day was over to enact her revenge. She would have killed him right then but Trea managed to calm her down enough by promising to help her avenge the article of clothing if Lorem waited.

An hour later though, everyone had calmed down and Skerren had to admit that it wasn't half bad though he still couldn't figure out how Jack and Allegra managed to even sneak the balloons and cake into the castle without him knowing. He wasn't going to question it though since he was promised he could use the remaining balloons for target practice tomorrow.

Skerren looked over across the room where Zhi was trying to impress Lorem by eating an entire cake slice in one bite. He rolled his eyes, Zhi would probably be on a sugar high for awhile and that meant at something was getting broken before Zhi crashed on some random piece of furniture and fell asleep.

"Aren't they cute?" Allegra was smiling as she noticed the young ninja trying impress the former criminal as soon as Skerren did.

Skerren shrugged and looked at his silver skinned friend," If you think Zhi trying to eat an entire cake is "cute" then I would suggest you get your eyes checked, Allegra."

"Oh c'mon, you know what I mean." Allegra grinned at him," We both know that Zhi is totally head over heals for Lorem."

"Oh….Oh by Og's blood! We can't let them get together!" Skerren narrowed his eyes at Allegra,"Do you realize their offspring would be the worst thing to happen in years? Not only would their spawn be sarcastic it would be just as obnoxious as both of them combined!"

The young Valorian laughed," Oh, don't be so mean. They aren't that bad and besides just because they like each other does not equal they'll have kids."

She looked up at the young knight, her smile broadening," I can't wait to babysit your kids though. They're going be so cute!"

Skerren literally choked on his drink," Kids!? Nope, no…..never will i ever have children!"

"Really?" Allegra seemed shocked, but soon a devious light lit her eyes as a thought came to mind," Not even where Trea is concerned?"

This time Skerren nearly did drop the cup he was holding but just as he was about to set the record straight, because he did not like Trea in the slightest, the sound of breaking glass shattered the calm.

Zhi stood next to the remains of a small glass bowl, a sheepish look on his face as everyone in turned to look at the ninja who at the moment was failing at being a ninja, and choked out,"Sorry! I was trying to see the picture behind the bowl and my hand slipped, because Jack threw a fork at me- that's a really long story-but I tried to catch it and it kinda was too late…."

Skerren sighed and started forward towards the mess," It's fine, Zhi. Just help me get the pieces up before someone steps on it." Skerren started to pick up the shards as everyone else went back to the party.

Zhi, who was ecstatic that he wasn't going to die because of the bowl, grinned like he had just eaten an entire chocolate cake and more- which he did- continued on saying," Yeah sure! But- Hey, Skerren why didn't you tell us you have a cousin?"

Skerren froze,"Oh crap….",he thought. Zhi had picked up the small picture that had been behind the bowl and had been inspecting it when he noticed that it was a picture of Skerren when he was younger, standing with what looked like his parents and a young girl who sported pigtails and was grinning at the camera.

"You have a cousin?!" Jack exclaimed, overhearing and coming to see the picture for himself, not noticing his friend standing there with a unreadable expression on his face and gripping a piece of glass so hard that blood started to drip from his hand after a minute.

Pretty soon Allegra and Trea came over to look as well, smiling at the picture and laughing at how little Skerren was but it was Jack who saw that something was wrong with his friend.

"Hey…..Skerren. Are you ok?" Jack stepped closer but Skerren replied in a quiet voice without looking at him," She's not my cousin. That's my twin, Skara."

The room grew quiet and Skerren swore the temperature dropped at least five degrees but he continued on," It would have been her birthday today as well but she…didn't make it."

Allegra frowned," I'm sorry, Skerren…we shouldn't have asked."

"Its fine. You all didn't know, and besides that was in the past."

Far away though on the other side of Varagog Villiage, a young girl made her way down the streets, her face shadowed by a hood.

"Excuse me, ma'am." She called out to an old woman standing on her porch in the fading light.

"What? You need directions, young lady?"

"No…just wondering what's the date?"

"The first of october. Why, is today important or somethin'?"

Although the old woman couldn't see it, Skara smiled sadly and whispered," Happy birthday to me."

 **Oh wow i haven't uploaded in a while ^^ anyways here's something that i posted on my tumblr but i thought i should put on here to. If your a little confused this drabble thing is basically an idea i had that involves my fan character Skara. Yes, the one that was in that old story Chasing Freedom that i took down. This is basically a teaser i guess for what the rewrite will be like. anyways thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

Skerren hadn't been expecting anything special to happen the next day. He sat there in the courtyard, the day after his birthday, polishing his swords. The rest of the party had gone by without a hitch, and when everyone left Skerren promptly went to sleep just to avoid thinking about the past. It seemed his mind had other plans because as soon as his eye closed, he was back in the nightmare. It wasn't uncommon for Skerren to dream about the night he became an orphan and only child but in the past few years those dreams were far and few between. Still Skerren grimaced as he played the scenes of the nightmare through his head. First it was a happy dream, his father and mother sitting by the fireplace while his sister played with a toy nearby. Skerren knew what happened next couldn't be stopped but at the same time he still tried. In the dream he had heard someone, the Rustov left-behinds, knock at the front door and Skerren had screamed for his father not to answer but the result was the same as it had been seven years ago. His father rose from the chair and opened the door to see a grinning, decayed face stare back at him.

The rest of the dream happened quickly and sometimes would loop in a never-ending nightmare until morning came, but Skerren didn't want to think about what had happened next anymore. He wanted to remember only the good times, even if it was over.

Skerren was so lost in thought that he didn't even notice someone approach from behind until he heard the squire's voice," Sir! King Hovarth requests that you come to the main hall immediately! It's a matter of grave importance!'

"Wait, did he say what the matter was?" Skerren turned to see a small child no more than 11 years old behind him in a squire's attire and a pale face full of freckles.

"No, Sir! Just that it was very important and there was someone waiting for you!"

Skerren rose to his feet quickly to ask the squire more but the small boy was already running down the hall to deliver another message. He had no idea who could be asking for him to cause such a big deal but if Skerren could guess, it was probably a School of Thought related assignment.

As Skerren shouldered his swords and left the courtyard in a half run, he ran the possibilities through his mind. " _It could be a supervillain….or maybe its Trea and Lorem's revenge for ruining her jacket? No, my King wouldn't involve himself in that. So it's probably a supervillain rampage again."_

He ran past the library, the assembly room, and five court mages before he reached the door way to the main hall. The first thing he noticed was that it was strangely quiet. Most of the time the hall had some knights and nobles talking about politics but today the hallway was empty except for King Hovarth standing with a court advisor and….what appeared to be a small traveler who wore a hood.

Was this the person Skerren was supposed to see? That didn't make any sense to him because Skerren didn't recognize them, even as he walked closer. Still the hood shadowed their face and the worn clothes they wore covered their form so perhaps he had met them at one point.

"Skerren! Where have you been?" King Hovarth bellowed at the sight of his ward, his huge, armored form turning to face the young knight.

"I'm sorry, Sir. I only just got the message from a squire….Is something happening?"

The King fell silent and shifted slightly, unsure of how to answer but in the end he turned to the traveler and said quietly," Take off your hood, child. He can't see your face."

The traveler reached up with shaking hands to pull down the tattered hood. The first thing Skerren thought was that he was looking in a twisted mirror. He thought it was his own face staring back at him before he comprehended what was happening and even then he couldn't believe it.

His sister stood in front of him, her eyes cold as a northern wind and her cheeks gaunt and pale.

"Hello, brother." A voice ringing with a Rustov accent rang out from her mouth," It's been awhile hasn't it?"


End file.
